Mario Garcia Menocal

Mario Garcia Menocal (17 December 1866-7 September 1941) was President of Cuba from 20 May 1913 to 20 May 1921, succeeding Jose Miguel Gomez and preceding Alfredo Zayas. He was a member of the Conservative Party of Cuba.

Biography
Mario Garcia Menocal was born in Jaguey Grande, Cuba in 1866, and he was involved in the independence struggle against Spain as a young man. After the Spanish-American War, Garcia became a leading conservative politician, and the pro-business and pro-corporations Garcia was elected President in 1913. He was re-elected in 1916, although the results were challenged by the liberals, whose leader Alfredo Zayas led a revolt against his rule which was crushed with United States assistance. On 7 April 1917, he oversaw Cuba's declaration of war on the German Empire during World War I, entering the war a day after the USA; in December, he also declared war on Austria-Hungary. After his presidency, he continued to be involved in politics, running for President in 1924 and leading a failed coup in 1931. He went into exile in the USA for five years, and he launched a failed presidential bid in 1936 before dying in 1941.